


The Future Beckons

by Rachel500



Series: Aftershocks [54]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Episode Tag, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-06-01
Updated: 2008-06-01
Packaged: 2017-10-20 00:14:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/206754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rachel500/pseuds/Rachel500
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>TAG to Pretense</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Future Beckons

'Sam?' Janet Fraiser hoped using Samantha Carter's name rather than her rank would gain the attention of the young Major sat on the infirmary bed in front of her, who was staring absently at a medical cabinet on the other side of the room.

It worked; the blonde Air Force officer looked up quizzically at the doctor in response. 'Hmmm?'

'I asked you whether the rest of SG1 would be joining us for their post-mission checks?' Janet reminded her. She continued taking Sam's blood pressure, refusing to get distracted from her task.

Sam grimaced as the pressure cuff tightened on her upper arm. 'The Colonel should be along shortly. He stayed behind with General Hammond to discuss the Tollan's request for us to open diplomatic relations.'

'What about Doctor Jackson and Teal'c?' Janet asked as she removed the cuff and made a note of the results in the file.

'The Colonel got permission for Daniel and Teal'c to take Skaara home to Abydos while we came back for the debriefing. We're going tomorrow to pick them up.' Sam explained as she allowed Janet to make a physical examination of her neck.

Janet removed a tongue depressor from its wrapper. 'Open up.'

Sam obliged and Janet shone the torch down Sam's throat. A moment later, she moved away and Sam closed her mouth. She ignored the shiver that ran through her at the latent knowledge her own experience of being taken as an unwilling host by Jolinar was responsible for the throat check.

'Well, you've had your MRI and it was all clear so I would say we're done.' Janet noted.

'Great.' Sam didn't move from the bed.

Janet pocketed her pen and folded her arm over the folder she held. 'So, are you going to tell me what's wrong?'

'Huh?' Sam stared at Janet startled.

Janet lifted an eyebrow in a surprisingly good imitation of Sam's Jaffa team-mate.

Sam flushed. 'Sorry.' She ran a hand through her short hair, disturbing the strands, and oblivious that it produced a tousled, sexy look. 'I guess I'm a little distracted.'

'About?' Janet prompted.

'I promise you it's not relevant to the medical check.' Sam said as she slipped off the bed and reached for her jacket.

'I'm not asking as your doctor, Sam.' Janet hurried out. 'I'm concerned as your friend.'

Sam paused in putting the jacket back on and rested one hip up against the bed. She glanced around at the empty infirmary room before she turned back to Janet and cleared her throat. 'You remember when the Tollans were here before?'

'It's not easy to forget.' Janet said dryly. 'How they escaped was the talk of the SGC for weeks.'

Sam gave a small smile, remembering how SG1 had helped the Tollans before dragging herself back to the subject at hand. 'You remember me telling you about Narim?'

'The Tollan who came to get you all for this triad thing?' Janet nodded. Suddenly her eyes went wide in remembrance. 'Oh my God. He was here before wasn't he? He's the one you kissed!'

Sam nodded sheepishly.

Janet put it together remarkably quickly. 'The one who shared his feelings on that emotional recorder thingy.' Her brown eyes twinkled as Sam nodded again. She relaxed a little and pinned her friend with an amusing stare. 'So? Did he want to pick up where he left off?'

Sam blushed a bright red and nodded for a third time.

Janet managed to swallow the giggle of laughter that bubbled up but enough of her merriment must have shown because Sam wagged a finger at her.

'Don't you dare laugh!' Sam warned her.

The doctor held up a hand in surrender. 'What happened?'

'It was nothing, really.' Sam traced a pattern on the bed as she looked down, away from Janet's knowing gaze. 'The Colonel asked me to inform Narim about our concerns regarding the Jaffa so the Tollans would be alerted. I arranged to meet him and…'

'And he got the wrong impression.' Janet concluded.

Sam sighed as her fingers shifted from tracing patterns to plucking at the sheet. 'It was mortifying, Janet.'

'Details, Sam.' Janet pressed. 'It'll make you feel better. Honestly.'

Sam gave her a chiding look but acquiesced. 'He started to say how much he missed me and I had to put him straight.'

'So, what did you say?' Janet asked.

'I told him about Jolinar and that I needed time to figure out what I was feeling, whose feelings I was feeling.' Sam sighed.

'Do you?' The question was for the doctor in her, Janet acknowledged, rather than the friend.

'Not really.' Sam admitted. 'I haven't needed to since the mission to rescue my father from Netu.'

'When you were using the Tok'ra memory device to experience Jolinar's memories?' Janet expanded.

'It made things a lot clearer.' Sam noted. 'I know how I feel about things isn't being influenced by the feelings and emotions Jolinar left within me anymore.'

Janet registered the tacit admission that Sam had been influenced prior to the mission and ignored it. 'So, when you said it to Narim…'

'It was the only thing that I could think of to…get out of it.' Sam confirmed. 'I mean, you know I only kissed him before because of the emotion device and because I was flattered, not because…'

'You were interested.' Janet finished. 'You should have just told him you were with someone.'

'You mean make-up a boyfriend?' Sam shook her head. 'I wouldn't have felt right about that, Janet.' She fidgeted nervously. 'He did think there was someone else.'

Janet's eyes sharpened on her friend speculatively. 'Is there?'

'No.'

The denial was too forceful and too immediate; Janet wondered at it.

'Of course not.' Sam said slightly calmer. 'You know what it's like, Janet. I don't exactly have a lot of time to date.'

Janet nodded sagely, her mind still on Sam's denial. 'You should get out more.'

'Thanks.' Sam said dryly.

'That's what friends are for,' quipped Janet. 'So, if you're not dating someone, are you interested in someone?'

The tell-tale flush appeared even as Sam denied it again out loud. 'No.'

'You are, aren't you?' Janet smiled knowingly.

'Janet!'

There was enough annoyance in Sam's voice for the doctor to hold up her and again in supplication. 'OK, I'm sorry.' She gestured at the Major. 'I hope the whole 'it's not you, it's me' speech worked on him.' She commented. 'Do you think the Tollans' understand the sub-text of that?'

'I hope so.' Sam gave a grimace. 'I don't really want to have to be more explicit and hurt him. He is a sweet guy.'

Janet's lips quirked and she bit her lip to stop laughing.

'I know, I know.' Sam started smiling reluctantly. 'A definite sign I'm not interested, right?' She picked up her jacket. 'I'd better get showered and changed.' She reached out and clasped Janet's arm. 'Thanks. I do feel better.'

Janet patted her hand. 'You want to come over later and watch a movie? Cassie's got a sleep over so it's just me and the dog.'

'Sure. I'll bring the wine.' Sam said over her shoulder as she made her way out of the infirmary room. She passed the Colonel on his way in and gave him a bright smile as she left.

o-O-o

Jack pulled off the black t-shirt, feeling the cold slap of his dog tags on his bare chest. It had been a long day, he reflected tiredly; saving the Tollans, saving Skaara, briefing Hammond on the Tollans' request to be friends…he couldn't wait to get home, watch the hockey match his video had been programmed to record in his absence and relax with a cold beer. He reached for his own white t-shirt emblazoned with Homer Simpson's smiling yellow face and dragged it over his head.

'O'Neill.'

Jack tugged the material down and nodded at the SG3 leader who had just entered the locker room. 'Makepeace.' His tone gave away nothing of his dislike for the other man having recently discovered that the Marine was conspiring with the NID on a rogue operation to steal off-world technology. He didn't have any definitive proof of Makepeace's guilt and, until he did, he was going to have to play along at being colleagues. He knew Hammond was hoping Jack's own black ops background would help lure Makepeace into trying to recruit him.

'You heading home?' Robert Makepeace began to strip his own BDU with practised efficiency.

'Yeah,' Jack agreed easily as he shoved his feet into his battered boots and laced them up, 'that's the plan.'

'You want to grab a beer?' Makepeace asked, buttoning up his jeans and reaching for a green t-shirt with the words 'semper fi' written like a logo in one discreet corner.

Jack glanced over at Makepeace; the other man seemed completely focused on dressing as though Jack's answer didn't matter. For a moment, Jack was tempted to blow him off, make up some excuse and ignore the request. Responsibility and duty nudged at him. They'd been expecting an approach and if he blew off Makepeace it might ruin any chance they had to get Jack in a position to bring down the rogue op…he sighed inwardly. 'Sure.'

'O'Malley's?' Makepeace suggested, as he tied the laces on his own boots. 'I'll follow your truck.'

Jack gave a sharp nod and waited for Makepeace to grab a jacket and his personal effects. The two men left the locker room together and made their way out of the mountain.

Thirty minutes later, they slid into chairs at one of the worn tables in the bar area and ordered beers from a passing waitress as they discussed the various advantages of Jack's truck over Makepeace's jeep.

Jack accepted his beer with a grateful nod and decided he'd made enough small talk. 'So, what's this about?'

Makepeace lounged back on the wooden chair and took a long swallow of his beer. 'You usually this suspicious when someone offers you a beer?'

Jack shrugged. 'We've known each other what? Over two years?'

'And this is the first time we're sharing a beer together outside the work stuff.' Makepeace agreed. He gave a rueful grin and raised his glass. 'OK. I admit I have an ulterior motive.'

Jack picked up his beer. 'I'm all ears.' He said sarcastically.

'There's a rumour those Tollan guys offered us some kind of weapon that can take out the enemy ships in one blast.' Makepeace said bluntly.

Jack snorted. 'Hardly.' He took a long swallow of his drink.

'So what are they offering us?' Makepeace asked.

'Friendship.' Jack said simply.

'And that's it?' Makepeace checked.

'That's it.' Jack confirmed; his eyes remained on the amber liquid in the glass in front of him.

Makepeace shifted, leaning forward over the table. 'So you're telling me we saved their butts and they're giving us…friendship?' He said incredulously.

'Friendship.' Jack repeated.

Makepeace stared at him. 'You can't be happy about that.'

'I'm not.' Jack admitted honestly.

Makepeace waited a heartbeat. 'And we're going to settle for friendship?' His tone gave away his disgust.

Jack's fingers skimmed the edge of the glass as he considered his response. 'Officially.' He stated. He left the word hanging in the space between them; he wondered if Makepeace would bite.

'And unofficially?' Makepeace responded.

Jack hid his satisfaction by taking another sip of his beer. 'We're not there yet.' He commented.

'You think we could take one of those…weapons?' Makepeace asked.

'You mean steal,' Jack said bluntly, 'and no.' He waited a second. 'They're too big.'

'But you thought about it?'

'Thought about getting my hands on something that could save our planet?' Jack muttered caustically. 'Sure, but it's not that easy.' He picked up his beer. 'Some of the small stuff, maybe, we could get our hands on it but it would be difficult to do it without them noticing.'

'Do we care?' Makepeace countered.

Jack looked around as though checking they wouldn't be overheard – the tables around them were conveniently empty. He held the other man's gaze. 'They have something that can help the host keep control of the body, Makepeace. That's worth keeping them onside.' He tapped his glass. 'For now.'

'So we take one and backwards engineer it.' Makepeace argued.

'Which could take years.' Jack countered. 'In the meantime, all we have to do is ask and they'll help us, maybe provide one for someone even if they have to stay with them.'

'And they get to feel smugly superior that we're going begging to them for assistance.' Makepeace pointed out. 'That has to bug the hell out of you.'

'It does.' Jack admitted. He hated the Tollans' arrogance; he figured it was going to be their undoing. 'Look,' he said, lifting his glass, 'I'm not saying we'll never get there but sometimes the diplomatic route works.'

'The diplomatic stuff gives us squat.' Makepeace gave a humourless laugh. 'You've been spending too much time with Jackson, O'Neill.'

Jack shrugged, fighting the urge to defend Daniel. The archaeologist's strong ethical bent was frustrating at times out in the field but it was something Jack admired. 'The agreement with the Asgard keeps the Goa'uld from attacking Earth, Makepeace.' He said mildly.

'And you don't believe anymore than I do that it will stop them in the long run.' Makepeace rejoined. 'And it's not like the Asgard are giving us anything to help like one of those hammer things. I don't see how any of this friendship stuff gives us anything.'

'Oh, I don't know. I don't think Lya of the Nox would have been so quick to help Teal'c if we hadn't made friends with them.' Jack pointed out.

'Yet they still give us nothing.' Makepeace insisted. His eyes narrowed. 'Doesn't it bother you that the Jaffa disobeyed your orders?'

Jack's eyebrows shot up; obviously his report had hit the grapevine in double speed. 'You mean Teal'c?' He clarified tightly. 'No, I don't. If he hadn't, we would be dead. I trust him; he knows the Goa'uld a lot better than we do.' Not to mention, he thought to himself, that Teal'c was a heck of a lot older and had commanded his own army in the past. He knew his Jaffa friend followed his lead mainly because of the trust they shared. He shifted abruptly, dragging his attention back to Makepeace. 'So, that's all this was about?' He checked, gesturing with his drink. 'Pumping me for information?'

'Well, I could hardly ask Hammond to join me for a beer.' Makepeace leaned back in his chair again, regarding Jack with amusement.

'I guess not.' Jack agreed.

'And I've never liked poaching on another guy's territory so I couldn't ask Carter.' Makepeace noted.

Jack froze; the beer glass an inch away from his lips as his brown eyes darted to Makepeace. 'Excuse me?'

Makepeace lifted one shoulder. 'You telling me you and she aren't…' he made a vague gesture with his glass.

'No.' Jack responded automatically.

'Really?' Makepeace said disbelievingly.

'It's against the regs, Makepeace.' Jack pointed out a little primly.

Makepeace smirked. 'Right.'

Jack stared at him hard.

Makepeace's eyebrows lifted as the truth dawned. 'Wow.' He took a long drink of his beer. 'I have to say, you've got some self-control. If it were me, well, Carter's one very hot piece of…'

'Makepeace,' Jack said casually, 'I really wouldn't finish that sentence.' His eyes glittered dangerously across the table.

Makepeace held up a hand. 'All I'm saying is that if you're not then I wouldn't mind asking her out myself.'

Jack tried to look unaffected although his stomach churned uneasily at the idea of Makepeace taking Sam out on a date; partially because he knew the man was a traitor, partially because it was clear Makepeace didn't see Sam as anything more than a conquest and partially because the whole idea made him sick with jealousy.

'She's interested in someone.' Jack said, hoping the information he'd gathered when he'd eavesdropped on Sam talking with Janet earlier would stop the Marine from pursuing Sam. He hadn't meant to eavesdrop but hearing their voices as he had approached the infirmary room had slowed him down and the subject had been too tempting to resist. He resolutely ignored his own disappointment at what he'd learned. It wasn't any wonder Sam was interested in someone, and he was too old and too jaded for her even if there was a remote possibility that she might have considered him at all. At least she wasn't considering Narim either, he reminded himself, even if he was disconcerted to learn she'd apparently kissed him back during their original encounter with the Tollans.

'Oh.' Makepeace shrugged. 'Guess I'll give it a miss then.'

Jack drained the rest of his beer. 'Got to go. Thanks for the beer.'

Makepeace nodded and raised his still mostly full glass. 'Thanks for the information.'

Jack walked out of O'Malley's and got in his truck. He sat for a moment collecting his thoughts, his fingers tapping a relentless drumbeat against the steering wheel as he went over the conversation in his head; the probing about the Tollans and stealing their technology, the members of his team…Sam. He was going to nail Makepeace's butt to a wall, Jack decided furiously, and he was going to enjoy doing it.

o-O-o

Skaara's eyes flew open and he stared at the ceiling of his tent, willing his heartbeat back to normal as he tried to catch his breath. He rested a hand over his chest; he was himself again; free of the demon. He breathed deeply, calming. He looked over at where Daniel had been sleeping, worried that he might have disturbed him and frowned. The older man was no longer in the tent. Skaara threw off the blanket covering him and pulled on his robes. He eased out of the tent warily.

The settlement was quiet. The sky was still dark enough for everyone else to remain asleep; the first rays of the dawn only beginning to streak across the horizon. Shadows filled the corners of the narrow walk-ways. Skaara allowed his eyes to adjust to the dark, momentarily missing the Goa'uld's ability to see clearly in the poor light. He shook the feeling away; he was free and he would rather live with poor night vision than suffer the possession of the demon again. He began to walk, heading for one of the watch-towers on the outer walls of the barricades where he used to watch the sunrise over the desert as a child with his sister, Sha're.

He felt anew the grief at her passing. He had heard of her death; heard it had been by the Jaffa Teal'c's hand. Klorel had been upset at Teal'c's involvement – at the Jaffa's presumption to kill a God – but hardly bothered by Ammonet's demise. Skaara had inwardly mourned his sister. She had raised him after the death of their mother; she had loved and nurtured him. He felt the strong sensation of failure course through him again. He should have done more to protect her; to prevent Apophis from taking her. He should have found a way to defeat the demon inside of him and rescue her from the clutches of the Goa'uld. A faint frisson ran through him and he turned the corner to see Teal'c standing guard at the base of the watch tower. Skaara saw him straighten and knew the Jaffa had spotted him.

'Teal'c.' Skaara said formally, his voice pitched low to match the quiet of the morning. 'Have you seen Daniel?' Although his English had improved ten-fold with the knowledge of the language gained as Klorel, he still pronounced Daniel with the lilt of his Abydonian birth turning Daniel's name to 'Dan-yel'.

Teal'c nodded. 'He is in the watch tower.' His voice was a deep rumble.

Skaara looked up at the tower and back at the Jaffa. His brow creased. 'I feel something when I am around you…'

'Major Carter also experiences a physical sensation in my presence.' Teal'c said, frowning. 'She senses the Goa'uld I carry.'

'Major Carter?' Skaara murmured. 'I also feel something when I'm close to her.'

'She was a host to a Tok'ra for a short time.' Teal'c informed him.

Skaara looked at him sharply. He hadn't really spoken fully with the Jaffa although he had attempted to heal wounds by offering his hand in friendship. Perhaps it was time. 'You were a formidable First Prime, Teal'c.' He noted.

Teal'c stilled at the mention of his former existence. 'You have memories?'

'Of your time as Apophis's First Prime.' Skaara nodded.

'I was a slave.' Teal'c replied.

'Yes.' Skaara agreed. 'You were a slave and I perhaps know how much it took for you to turn away from Apophis.' He grinned suddenly. 'O'Neill is very persuasive, no?'

'He is.' Teal'c allowed. He moved, straightening. 'I regret my part in what happened to you and to your sister, Sha're.' Teal'c murmured. His eyes were dark with remorse.

'They said it was you who killed her.' Skaara commented.

Teal'c nodded sharply. 'It was I.' He dropped his gaze and looked away into the distance. 'Ammonet was killing Daniel Jackson.'

'You guard him as you once guarded Apophis.' Skaara noted.

'Daniel Jackson is more worthy of my protection than any False God.' He murmured, turning back to the Abydonian.

Skaara nodded in agreement. 'Daniel has forgiven you for Sha're.'

'He has.' Teal'c's wonderment still rang through the words.

'Then I shall also.' Skaara decided immediately.

Teal'c was shocked. 'I do not deserve…'

'Without you, the Tollans would be defeated and I would still be possessed by the demon. O'Neill trusts you,' Skaara pointed out, 'as does Daniel.'

Teal'c bowed his head. 'You should go to him.' He advised.

Skaara nodded and they exchanged another look of understanding before he started to climb. He made his way to the top of the tower and settled beside Daniel, sinking easily into the cross-legged position of his youth. He watched as the sun rose over the yellow dunes, brightening the sky with a pale white light.

'Sha're loved the sun-rise.' Daniel said eventually.

'My sister loved life.' Skaara noted easily. He looked over at the older man and flinched at the raw grief on Daniel's face. His expression softened. 'She loved you, Daniel.'

'I failed her.' Daniel confessed quietly. 'I failed you.' His bright blue eyes shimmered with tears as he stared into the sun. 'I unburied the gate.'

Skaara shook his head regretfully. 'No, Daniel. It is I who failed you.'

Daniel's head snapped to him. 'What?' He blurted out.

'You trusted me to guard the gate and to guard Sha're. I failed you, Daniel.'

'No, Skaara.' Daniel assured his brother-in-law hurriedly. 'You didn't fail me. It was me. I was too sure there was no danger, I was too arrogant and…' his voice broke. He turned his head away, covering his face with his hands.

Skaara placed a hand tentatively on Daniel's shoulder. 'You forgave Teal'c, Daniel, for his part. You forgive me my failure. Can you not forgive yourself?'

'I don't think I can.' Daniel reached under his glasses and swiped at his eyes. 'I don't think I'm going to ever forgive myself for what happened. Sha're…Sha're's gone.'

'My father says you search for the child?' Skaara said quietly.

'I promised Sha're I would find him and protect him.' Daniel confirmed.

'It is good that you do this.' Skaara said. 'I know you will find him.'

'I hope so.' Daniel smiled sadly. 'He's all I have left of Sha're.'

'Not all.' Skaara corrected. 'You have me, my brother.'

Daniel glanced at the young Abydonian boy and was disconcerted by the warm, brotherly love in Skaara's open face. He wondered at how the young boy he had known had become a man.

'I know you will travel among the stars and find the child of my sister,' Skaara said gently, 'but never forget your home is here, Daniel.' He smiled. 'As I never forgot every day I was possessed by the beast.'

Daniel nodded.

Skaara decided to change the subject. 'O'Neill will come today?'

Daniel smiled. Skaara's hero-worship of the military man was still evident and it reassured the archaeologist in a strange way that Skaara was himself again. 'He will. He and Sam.'

'Then we shall have a celebration, no? To give thanks to you and O'Neill, and all your friends for helping free me and return home.'

'I don't…'

'I will not hear an argument, Daniel.' Skaara grinned. He slapped Daniel's shoulder.

Daniel considered their success and Skaara's joyous return to his family; the simple but hopeful future ahead for the Abydonian. His heart ached. If only Sha're could have witnessed it…experienced such a return home herself…perhaps she had in some spiritual way. He hoped so. A strange sense of peace washed over him; warmth and acceptance filled him as he sat with his brother-in-law in Sha're's favourite spot, watching the sun fill the sky, the sound of the stirring settlement below them.

Skaara lifted his face into the brilliant sunshine. 'It is going to be a beautiful day.'

Daniel looked toward the same radiant light. 'Yes,' he agreed softly, 'it's going to be beautiful.'

fin.


End file.
